Detention Forum Archive

What do these immigration detention statistics tell us?

24 February 2017

The immigration detention statistics published yesterday show no sign that significant and coherent detention reform is being implemented by the Home Office.

The two recent major inquiries into the state of immigration detention called for a complete overhaul of the detention system, which detains far too many people far too long.  The government subsequently committed itself to detention reform.

It is not clear what progress is being made under this reform programme.  The Immigration Enforcement Business Plan for 2016/17, now the year is almost over, is still unpublished.  The plan to close Dungavel detention centre in Scotland was scrapped just a few weeks ago.

There are two possible speculations.  One is that the reform work is taking place, but it has not translated into any tangible, positive impact yet.  Another is that the process of detention reform has stalled under the Immigration Minister, Robert Goodwill.

The statistics show however that the three troubling trends continue.

Firstly, there are still a lot of people who enter the detention estate.

There was some reduction in the number of people entering detention: a total 28,908 people entered detention in 2016, compared to 32,447 in 2015.  This is the first time since 2012 that the number fell below 30,000.  We suspect that this reflects the closure of Dover IRC which took place in the last quarter of 2015 and shrunk the overall size of the detention estate somewhat.

However, overall, there has not been any huge decline in this number as the graph shows over the last few years.

(The graph was taken from this webpage.)

The gender and asylum profile of those detained has also remained more or less the same over the years.  Of the 28,908 who entered detention in 2016, 14% (4,094) were female and 46% (13,230) were asylum detainees.  The detention estate remains a male dominated environment, with a high number of individuals who have claimed asylum.

A rise in the number of EU citizens experiencing detention was anoted in this latest statistics release, echoing the recent media report on the same issue: there was a 24% increase in the number of EU nationals leaving detention since 2015, up from 3,647 to 4,519.  Compared to non-EU nationals, a much higher percentage of EU nationals leaving detention return to their country of origin (89% as compared to 39%).

Secondly, a high proportion of people who are detained find themselves released back into the community later, raising the question of why they were detained in the first place.

While the overall number of people entering detention fell by 11% in 2016 compared to 2015, over 50% of those who leave the detention estate are not returned from the UK to their country of origin.

This follows the trend we have been seeing for a few years.   For those who were detained and were released back into the community, their detention was not only harmful to their well-being but also a waste of public money.

The damaging impact of detention on individuals’ mental health and general well-being has been highlighted time and time again by those who are directly affected by detention and a range of specialist practitioners.

Immigration detention is also an expensive public policy: the cost of running the detention estate in 2013/14 was £164.4m.

(The graph was taken from this webpage.)

And lastly, many continue to experience long-term detention. 

UK remains the only country in Europe to practice indefinite detention of migrants, with no set time limit at all.

The published statistics illustrates the devastating impact of this irresponsible policy: as at 31 December 2016, the longest length of time a person had been currently detained for was 1,333 days.  That is three and a half years in detention.  Indeed, on the same day there were 78 people who had been detained for over one year.

(The image was taken from Scottish Detainee Visitors‘ Facebook page)

Such long-term detention is not an isolated incident.  The same published statistics reveal that every quarter, when the snapshot picture of the detained population is taken, there is always someone who had been detained for a similar period.  One caveat is that these statistics on the length of detention however do not include those detained in prisons, where extreme long detention cases are often found.

(More information is available on the spreadsheet dt_14_q: Top 20 longest lengths of detention of people in detention by gender, available from the data tables on this webpage)

In 2016, 10,380 people were deprived of their liberty for more than 29 days (36% of the total who left detention in the year).  Of these, the vast majority (62%) were released back into the community after their detention.

The Detention Forum and the Parliamentary Inquiry’s recommendation has been that the detention period should be restricted to 28 days as a maximum.  This would have meant that over 10,000 would have been released from detention earlier.

Generally speaking, the longer someone is detained, more likely that they will be released from detention.  Of the 208 detained for 12 months or more before leaving detention in 2016, only 29% were returned their country of origin, meaning that 72% of them returned back to the community after a lengthy period of detention, without knowing exactly when they would be released.  There is a huge question over why such people were not released much earlier.

The statistics tell us nothing about the human cost of immigration detention

None of these figures, however, tells us the unique stories of individuals, their families and communities affected by immigration detention.  What these figures tell us however is the massive scale of the UK’s use of detention.

So far, the slow pace of the detention reform has been disappointing.  Promises have been made, but they have not translated into the statistics.  To speed up this reform process, the mentality which assumes that detention is always necessary for migrants whose immigration cases have been refused must change, and change fast.

As has been said many times before, detention is harmful, many people return to their communities after detention and is expensive.  There is no reason why the detention of adults cannot be substantially reduced, as has been the case for children.  There is evidence to show that people can be supported in the community to continue to work on their immigration cases.  Introduction of a clear time limit and development of a wider range of community-based alternatives to detention are the next steps this government should be taking.

The next set of statistics will be published in three months time.  The Home Office must accelerate the speed of their detention reform, if we are to see significant reduction in the scale and the length of immigration detention.   Reforming this inhumane system must be a top priority for everyone.

Detention Forum statement – the death at Morton Hall detention centre

16 January 2017

We are saddened by yet another death in immigration detention last week in Morton Hall detention centre in Lincolnshire.  It has been reported by the Guardian newspaper that a young detained Polish man took his own life, leaving his baby and his partner behind.  The baby was born on the day of the man’s death.  Our thoughts are with his family, friends and communities. 

This is the third death in UK immigration detention in five weeks, and comes at a time when the government’s commitment to detention reform is in serious doubt. 

When the Shaw Review was published just over a year ago, the then Immigration Minister James Brokenshire made several promises.  They included strengthening safeguards for those at risk of harm in detention and introducing a new system of case management.  He gave reassurances that these reforms would “lead to a reduction in the number of those detained, and the duration of detention before removal”.

The government’s new safeguarding mechanism, the Adults at Risk policy, has been challenged by many as simply not good enough.  The policy is intended to protect individuals in situations of vulnerability from the harm of detention, but appears to have been ineffective in the context of the latest wave of deaths. 

A long-awaited Immigration and Enforcement Business Plan 2016/17, which was to outline how the government planned to reduce the detention estate, remains unpublished, nine months after it was promised.  In the meantime, the plan to replace Dungavel detention centre in Scotland with a short-term holding facility appears to be on hold.

The Home Office is yet to enact the provision in the Immigration Act 2016 for automatic bail hearings after four months of detention for some categories of individuals.  This was one of the key focuses of debate in Parliament, after much pressure from parliamentarians for a time limit on detention.

While the government fails to deliver on its promises, migrants continue to be harmed by immigration detention and their dignity denied.  Over 30,000 people experience immigration detention every year, some for months and years.  Over half of them are eventually released back to their communities in the UK, with detention having served no purpose other than damaging their well-being and trust in the UK.   

There is no excuse for delaying detention reform.  Today, around 3,000 people are locked up in detention, isolated in often remote centres, behind walls adorned by barbed wire, in prison-like conditions and regime, without time limit.  Many are racked by anxiety, uncertainty and stress.  

We know it does not have to be like this.  Evidence suggests that with careful planning, community-based alternatives to detention can enable migrants to engage with immigration procedures while remaining connected to their families, friends and support in the community. 

We urge the government to start taking action today.

Unlocking Detention 2016 ended, but our work continues 

5 Jan 2017

A long three-month marathon of #unlocked16 ended on International Migrants Day, 18 December 2016.  The Detention Forum’s flagship project, Unlocking Detention, is a virtual tour of the UK’s detention estate.  This project started in 2014, and this was our third tour. 

This year’s tour took place against the background of some promises for change.  Strong criticisms by the Parliamentary Inquiry panel and the Shaw Review forced the UK government to accept the need for substantial detention reform.  Politicians also secured some important legislative changes during the passage of Immigration Act 2016, which introduced a detention time limit for pregnant women and limited judicial oversight for some categories of people in detention. 

These changes were won because people and communities affected by detention spoke loudly and powerfully about the devastating impact of detention – and that powerfulness was evidently still there in the weekly live Q&As with people who were detained (here’s one with ‘Jose’ if you want to know more about these Q&As).  

Yet the tour also picked up a simmering sense of frustration, pain and anger from people in detention, their friends, families and communities.  Everyone knows that the promised changes are simply not happening quickly enough.  For what reasons, for example, the Immigration Enforcement Business Plan 2016/17 is still unpublished remain unclear.  Why despite the evidence that community-based alternatives to detention can help people, including those with complex needs, avoid detention, the government continues to harm individuals through detention is also unclear.   But what is clear is that although the Unlocking Detention tour ended, we will be continuing to push for change. 

In the last week of the tour, we asked people “What gave you hope in the fight against detention in 2016, and how are you planning to use that hope in 2017?” (here is one of the six blogs dealing with the same topic).  It’s clear that we all have different reasons to remain hopeful.   Do stay with us and please use that hope this year – we have a lot to do indeed.   

We would also like to thank you for taking part in the tour.  This is how you supported the tour.  

• 800 new Twitter followers followed @DetentionForum to join in the tour.
• 1,000 of you read our blogs every week.
• Many others also read our #unlocked16 blogs published on external platforms, such as Open Democracy, Justice Gap, Huff Post, The Conversation, Novara Media, Rights Info, COMPASS blog, Rene Cassin blog and PICUM blog.
• This piece by Ajay, A Letter to The Old Me, Before Brook House, has been the most frequently read blog by you so far.
• The most popular tweet during the tour was this one:

“The UK is the only country in Europe that detains people indefinitely for immigration purposes.” #Time4aTimeLimit #Unlocked16 pic.twitter.com/RIBZ4uLcoj

— TheDetentionForum (@DetentionForum) October 26, 2016

And thank you to everyone who left comments for our blogs.  Linda, in response to Kasonga’s piece, Build Trust, Not Walls, said:

We also asked you a question “What does detention mean to you?” and draw your answers.  We received so many (you can see them on this page), and hers’s one of them. 

So what can you do right now?  One of the priorities is to continue to seek political accountability and urge politicians to deliver the promised detention reform.  Here’s what you can do.  

The 2016 tour was coordinated by Right to Remain and Detention Action, two of the Detention Forum member organisations.  Over 60 blogs were produced by our members, people and communities affected by detention and supporters.  Our team of social media volunteers (Alice, Gala, Sylvia, Kalina, Rosie, Ruth and Priya) supported the tour throughout. 

You can revisit #unlocked16 at www.unlocked.org.uk  If you have any feedback, tweet us using the hashtag #unlocked16 or @DetentionForum  

By The Detention Forum team

18 August 2016

In Stephen Shaw’s substantive review of detention earlier this year, it did not go unnoticed that the scale of immigration detention in the UK had increased without any strategic plan, or statement of purpose. He commented that ‘the use of detention is determined on a direct one to one basis by the number of available spaces. A strategic decision therefore needs to be made about the size and location of the IRC estate over the next decade and longer’. The then Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire, in a statement made in January, accepted the ‘broad thrust’ of Shaw’s recommendations, and outlined plans to reduce the numbers detained. Plans for the future shape and size of the detention estate, he said, would be outlined in the Immigration Enforcement’s Business Plan for 2016/17. This elusive business plan remains unpublished.

It comes as somewhat of a surprise to learn, then, that the detention centres at Gatwick Airport (Brook and Tinsley House) are being expanded this summer by 100 bed spaces.

In the context of the mounting calls for substantive overhaul of the detention system, and the government’s proposed reform agenda, this latest development appears to be a step backwards, to what the Detention Forum described in 2014 as ‘expansion by stealth’. In adding spaces by redeveloping existing facilities, the government is able to increase the use of detention avoiding the public outcry that would likely accompany the opening of another centre. This type of expansion is not new: in 2014, the detention estate increased by 25%. While much of this increase was the result of the opening of the Verne in Dorset, there was also a less well-publicised increase of 267 spaces, by expanding accommodation within existing detention centres around the country.

More recently, it seemed the government’s obsession with expanding detention had been curbed. In 2015, a proposed expansion of Campsfield House was put on hold, following local and national opposition, and the HMP run detention centres at Dover and Haslar were closed. This downwards trajectory took place within the broader context of increased scrutiny – and criticism – of the use of detention in this country and the momentum built around the Parliamentary Inquiry.

Adding 60 places to Brook and 40 places to Tinsley sits uncomfortably within this and runs counter to the reform agenda. It is also another worrying example of the trend towards larger detention facilities – exemplified by the Verne, or major expansions at Harmondsworth, now the second largest detention centre in Europe. HMIP has commented that outcomes in detention are better in smaller centres than large facilities, which tend to be ‘less safe’.

We can only hope that this latest development is a minor detour on the road to broader reform, and that the Home Office hasn’t lost sight of its promise to reduce the numbers detained. But without the publication of the business plan or any strategic review, what may come next is becoming increasingly difficult to second guess.

Ali McGinley for Detention Forum

In response to this news, Mia Hasenson-Gross of René Cassin said “This step suggests that the Government is moving in the opposite direction from the detention reform platform set out over the last 18 months. There is broad civil society agreement that detention needs to be used less and for shorter periods of time. We hope that Robert Goodwill, the Minister for Immigration, is aware that increasing the capacity of an already inefficient, unjust and expensive detention estate will only put pressure on what is already a fragile and broken system.”

Eiri Ohtani of the Detention Forum added “We urge the minister to halt this expansion plan immediately.  It undermines the detention reform agenda and it makes no sense.  We also urge him to publish the much promised business plan for 2016/17 as a matter of urgency to reassure Parliament and the public that the reform programme is going to be implemented smoothly and competently.”

August 15th, 2016 (This piece first appeared on the Right to Remain webpage here.)

Every year for the past three years, Right to Remain has helped to run an innovative and participatory social media project that raises awareness of immigration detention in the UK – it’s called Unlocking Detention (or “Unlocked” for short).

Unlocking Detention is a ‘virtual tour’ of the UK’s immigration detention estate – and of the impact of detention on communities across the UK. Each week, we ‘visit’ another of the UK’s detention centres and we hear from people who have been detained there (and who still are), volunteer visitors to that centre, NGOs and campaigners who are involved with challenging immigration detention, and the families, friends, neighbours and communities over whom detention casts its long shadows. The tour runs from 10 October to 18 December 2016.

The idea for Unlocking Detention came from the fact that many of the UK’s detention centres are geographically very remote and that the injustice of immigration detention was being kept hidden away – “out of sight, out of mind”.

People held in immigration detention are isolated and hard-to-reach. People may be held in a centre (in prison-like conditions) hundreds of miles from where they were living, and many miles from any city, with no public transport to get there to visit. The system is operated to isolate people – and detention as a policy issue is very remote from the minds of most members of the public and, until recently, from the minds of most of our elected representatives.

This means most people have no idea what immigration detention is, what it’s like, who is it for and why it’s such an outrage. For such a grave human rights issue, detention has been a remarkably hidden topic – over the last 20 years since the first detention centre opened, the detention estate has massively expanded and until relatively recently, with almost no public debate or political scrutiny.

Because of this lack of awareness, detention became accepted as a “normal”, integral part of the system of immigration administration and enforcement. Unlocking Detention seeks to change this – through the voices of those at risk of detention, those living with the scars of previous detention, communities damaged by detention, and all those seeking to change it. Although Unlocking Detention uses a geographical tour as a starting point, the project goes beyond the location and operation of detention centres, shining a light on all aspects of detention, and its place in the system of immigration control.

You don’t have to be an expert on detention, or directly impacted by detention, to be involved.  If you are interested in, concerned by or have questions about immigration detention, join the conversation!

How you can get involved

Read the Unlocking Detention blog posts.  Every week of the tour, there will be new pieces to read from diverse authors, on many different topics.  We’ll have some great pieces out during the tour, but for now you can catch up on the amazing range of blog posts we’ve shared over the last two years.

Be part of Unlocking Detention on Twitter.  The hashtag for the tour is #Unlocked16 and you can follow the Detention Forum on Twitter @DetentionForum for tweets everyday about the centre that is the focus of the week, and detention in general (don’t forget to follow Right to Remain @Right_to_Remain as well as we’ll be tweeting along during the tour!).  If you are on Twitter, be part of the conversation by tweeting with #Unlocked16 … but if you’re not on Twitter, don’t worry! You’ll be able to find all of the tweets and retweets from Detention Forum on the Unlocking Detention website.

Follow Unlocking Detention on Facebook.  This year, we’ll be sharing blog posts, articles, videos and images on Facebook so make sure you like the Unlocking Detention page to see what’s happening!

We’re even on Instagram this year! Follow Unlocking Detention @unlockingdetention on Instagram to see the visual story of Unlocking Detention.

Getting the word out.  Look out for Unlocking Detention articles in other online media platforms (we’ll share them via Twitter, Facebook and the blog!) and you can also be a hugely important part of the tour just by talking to people about detention.  You might find the Unlocking Detention blog posts, interviews and other material by people affected by detention that we share a good way to start this conversation.

Looking forward to you joining us!  The tour starts on October 10 and runs till 18 December. 

28 July 2016

In its latest inspection report on Colnbrook detention centre, HM Inspector of Prisons said ‘There should be a strict time limit on the length of detention and caseworkers should act with diligence and expedition.’   

Colnbrook detention centre, near Heathrow Airport, detains up to 396 migrants, including 27 women who are held in a separate unit.  The centre suffered from a lack of maintenance during the period of management contract transfer from Serco to Mitie a few years ago, resulting in significant deterioration of parts of the centre. 

The inspection team said that the numbers of cases of prolonged detention they found were lower than in their last inspection in 2013 but were ‘still too high’; out of 322 who were in custody at the time of inspection, 32 had been there between six and 12 months; 20 between one and two years and three people for more than two years.  One person was continuously detained for four years and eight months, whose case ‘had been exacerbated by casework inefficiencies and administrative delays’. 

The inspection team found some casework to be poor; some detention reviews ‘did not consider factors for and against detention in a balanced way’ and some cases which would not be concluded within a reasonable period of time were also still detained. 

The report also recommends that people with severe mental illnesses should not be in immigration detention. Other recommendations to the Home Office include:

– All individuals at the detention advice surgeries should be given enough time to explain their circumstances and receive appropriate advice over the full allocated half-hour interview.


– The Home Office should stop the practice of preventing people who are deemed uncooperative from working.

– People in detention should have access to Skype and social networking sites unless an individual risk assessment determines that this is inappropriate.  

– Only those individuals volunteering for removal should be placed on a reserve list for a charter flight.

The inspection found that 48% of those detained felt depressed or suicidal when they first arrived.  Yet, no private interview on arrival means that that there is no effective assessment of needs, although full risk assessments are carried out within a few days of arrival.  The report also reveals that there is an ongoing investigation into a death which happened in February 2016. 

Following an escape in December 2015, the use of handcuffs has increased from 30% to 55%.  Those detained remain confined in their cells from 9pm to 8am. Only just over 50% of the surveyed said that they were treated with respect. 

Overall, the report paints a mixed picture of the detention centre, which appeared to be still in the process of stabilising itself after a contract change.  The inspection team also found:

– the new management now allows for free movement of individuals in the centre, achieving a calmer atmosphere

– improved use of the Rule 35 procedure, a safeguarding mechanism for vulnerable individuals to be considered for release on medical grounds

– a well functioning welfare team, better access to recreational activities, positive teaching and learning despite a narrow range of available education

– the poor state of the induction unit

– continuity and consistency of healthcare provision is compromised as a result of staff shortages

– although mental health care and support was generally good, ‘it was concerning that people with such severe illnesses were in immigration detention at all, especially as some spent long period in the separation unit’

You can read the full report here. 

 

22 July 2016

UK’s National Preventive Mechanism calls for a time limit on immigration detention

UK’s official detention watchdog has confirmed that it supports the view that there should be a time limit over immigration detention.  HM Chief Inspector of Prisons for England and Wales Annual Report 2015–16, published recently, explains that this official position was formally endorsed by the UK’s National Preventive Mechanism in November 2015. 

The National Preventive Mechanism is designated by the states which have signed the treaty, the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).  Through regular, independent monitoring of places of detention, the NPM aims to provide a safeguard against torture and ill-treatment that could happen in detention. 

The National Preventive Mechanism, and also HMIP by implication, join a number of national and international bodies who have called for a time limit on immigration detention over the years.  The Equality and Human Rights Commission, the United Nation’s Committee against Torture and European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and some of the Independent Monitoring Boards have repeatedly expressed their grave concern over UK’s routine practice long-term deprivation of liberty of irregular migrants and have called for a time limit. 

The issue of a time limit was also one of the key themes which emerged from a number of critical reports, including the report of the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Use of Immigration Detention and the Home Office commissioned Review into the Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons. 

UK detains around 4,000 people with irregular migration status on any given day.  There are nine detention centres (Immigration Removal Centres) and several Short Term Holding Facilities in the UK where such individuals are locked up.  In addition, around 400 irregular migrants are also held in prisons, with less access to legal advice and other support than in detention centres. 

Other concerns highlighted by the annual report 2015/16 include:

– Better outcomes are observed in smaller facilities, such as Tinsley and Dungavel. Larger facilities inspected ‘tend to be less safe and respectful’;

– A safeguarding mechanism for people who are ill, victims of torture or trafficking (Rule 35) was not functioning properly in any of the facilities inspected.  This meant that the most vulnerable were not afforded protection they desperately needed;

– There was no adequate safeguarding procedures in Yarl’s Wood detention centre, particularly for those who are vulnerable.  While in the past, there were ‘proven instances of inappropriate sexual relationships between staff and detainees which, given the power imbalance and vulnerability of detained women, were clearly abusive’, their latest inspection found ‘no evidence of a current widespread abusive or hostile culture among staff’;

– Staff members were generally respectful to those who are detained in the centres;

– Accommodation and infrastructure remained ‘prison-like’. 

In one of the most shocking cases, in summer 2015 HMIP discovered by chance a previously unknown detention facility operating in Dover during their regular inspection of other Short Term Holding Facilities in the area.  Men, women and children who have just arrived in the UK were detained in so-called ‘Longport Freight Shed’, the unofficial detention facility, which had unacceptably poor conditions without sufficient food. According to the report, this facility is currently not being used and HMIP recommends the facility to be closed down permanently. 

You can read the report here.   

 

 

21 July 2016

The Government announced today that they are moving the location of child detention from Cedars Pre-Departure Accommodation to a ‘discrete unit’ within Tinsley House Immigration Removal Centre, near Gatwick Airport. 

Cedars Pre Departure Accommodation currently detains families with children facing forced removal.  There is a 72 hour detention time limit for families with children, extendable up to seven days with ministerial authorization. 

This was the first official statement by the new Immigration Minister, Robert Goodwill.  Goodwill inherits the detention reform programme started by his predecessor, James Brokenshire, in response to a number of damning reports which exposed the harm detention causes and called for radical reform of the system.  In his statement, the Minister explained that this decision was made ‘on value for money grounds’ since the facility was not used very frequently. 

Cedars Pre-Departure Accommodation was build as part of the Coalition Government’s pledge to end immigration detention of children in 2010.  The family returns model, overseen by the Independent Family Returns Panel, was introduced as part of these reforms.  This new process has reduced the number of children detained, although it has not entirely eradicated child detention. 

The latest official statistics illustrate this downward trend.  According to the National Statistics ‘The number of children entering detention in the year ending March 2016 was 110, 24% lower than the previous year (144). This was a 90% fall compared with the 2009, the year prior to the changes (1,119).’

(Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics January to March 2016, available on this page.

 

Barnardo’s, a children’s charity involved in the running of Cedars, issued a statement expressing their concern that the welfare of children will be compromised by the move to Tinsley House.  They will not be working with families with children detained at the new Pre-Departure Accommodation at Tinsley House. 

In the last unannounced inspection report, Her Majesty’s Inspector of Prison, while stating that ‘Cedars is a high quality, well managed institution’, acknowledged the distress experienced by detained families as ‘disturbing’.  The report says ‘Among the 42 families held in 2013, force (mostly low level) had been used on 10 occasions, suicide and self-harm procedures had been initiated 25 times and there had been two recorded incidents of actual self-harm. Detainees had been placed on constant watch on 12 occasions.’

Eiri Ohtani, of the Detention Forum said:

‘There is global recognition and consensus that detention is never in the best interests of the child. 

‘The priority for the Government should be to continue to work towards eradicating child detention, in line with the commitment made in 2010 to end detention of children which remains unfulfilled. The Government has also recently promised to reform the detention system, reflecting the findings of the Shaw Review and the Parliamentary Inquiry into the Use of Immigration Detention. 

‘While we acknowledge that the number of children detained has declined since 2010, moving the location of child detention to the grounds of a detention centre could further compromise the welfare of children who continue to be detained.’ 

Ali McGinley, of the Association of the Visitors to Immigration Detainees added:

‘At a time when the welfare needs of the most vulnerable have been prioritised by a Government commissioned review, the Shaw Review and while steps are being taken to reduce the detention of vulnerable people such as pregnant women, this move represents a huge step backwards in terms of the detention of children, arguably the most vulnerable of all.

‘Transferring their detention from Cedars to Tinsley House, an immigration removal centre, is a retrograde move that will see children held behind bars in a higher security environment wholly incompatible with their welfare needs.’  

20 July 2016

After the Cabinet reshuffle, we now have a new Home Secretary (Amber Rudd) and a new Immigration Minister (Robert Goodwill).

It is important that the new Minister is made aware, while he is still new to the post, that there is so much more that needs to be done about immigration detention in the UK. 

In particular, we need to ensure that the reform programme which was started by the previous Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire, will not stall. 

As you remember, in response to the findings of the Shaw Review, James Brokenshire said in a written statement on 14 January 2016 that the Government “accepts the broad thrust” of the recommendations Mr Shaw made.  He also made explicit the Government’s commitment to publish the Immigration Enforcement Business Plan for 2016/17, which would say more about the Government’s plans for the future shape and size of the detention estate.  The Plan has not been published yet.   

It would be very helpful if you could contact your MPs and urging them to write to the new Minister asking him to promise to continue with the detention reform agenda. 

In addition, you could also ask your MPs to submit written questions so that the Minister is aware that there continues to be cross-party support for detention reform. 

Below are some sample written questions for your information.  There is no need to ask your MPs to submit all the questions; perhaps you can choose one or two that you feel most strongly about and say why.  You should feel free to develop your own questions as well.  

• To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she expects Stephen Shaw to complete his follow-up review of the use of immigration detention

• To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will introduce a maximum time limit on the length of time an individual can be detained under immigration powers

• To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Statement of 14 January 2016, HCWS470, when does she intend to publish the Immigration Enforcement’s Business Plan for 2016/17

• To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the evidence of the impact the lack of a time limit on immigration detention has on people detained in immigration removal centres

• To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what mechanisms are in place to monitor the application of section 60 of the Immigration Act 2016

• To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she believes that fewer people will be detained in immigration removal powers as a result of the Immigration Act 2016 and her Department’s response to Stephen Shaw’s report in the Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons

• To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how the impact of the Adults at Risk policy for vulnerable people detained under immigration powers will be measured

• To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what consultation has taken place on the draft Adults at Risk policy for vulnerable people detained under immigration powers

The Detention Forum team

Social media volunteers needed!

2 July 2016

We are looking for two to three volunteers who can help us increase our social media presence by;

• making sure our Twitter account is always active
• publishing regularly small pieces of detention-related news that we can share with others
• collating immigration detention related news
• attending detention-related events and file reports about such events

You need to have;

• Solid experience of working or volunteering in a NGO or in a team
• General understanding of immigration detention in the UK (you don’t need to be an expert!)
• Experience of Internet-based research to find information
• Solid experience of using Twitter (you need to have actively used Twitter at least for three months)
• Demonstrable ability to communicate clearly in English
• Ability to work on your own initiative and complete tasks on time
• Access to a computer and Internet connection
• Any design / art / creative skills are a big plus – let us know what skills you have.

You don’t need to be in London but you need to be able to communicate with us over emails and Skype as and when necessary.  We are especially keen to hear from people who can report how their local communities are affected by immigration detention.  

Please do not apply if you do not meet these criteria. 

The Detention Forum currently has one part-time freelance worker who works one to two days a week and five part-time volunteers. They work from home and communicate each other via Skype and emails. You can see why you need to be a self-starter and reliable if you want to join our team!

Due to our limited resources and time, the only tools of communication we have with the outside world are emails, our website and Twitter – so for us, social media work is very important.

We would like the volunteers to be available at least one day a week for at least five months.

The Detention Forum also runs an exciting project, Unlocking Detention, every year.  This year’s “tour” will start from October and end in December You can find more about last year’s #unlocked at www.unlocked.org.uk

If you are interested, please send the following to detentionforum@gmail.com by 24 July 2016.

• your CV
• a short covering letter addressing the above points, confirming that you are available for the training and interview, if recruited/shortlisted
• details of your Twitter account
• a short written piece, up to 300 words, on immigration detention (you can write about any topic and theme relating to immigration detention)

We will contact those who are shortlisted.

Volunteering at the Detention Forum is a lot of work.  However, you will get to learn more about immigration detention and you also have a chance to learn how groups like the Detention Forum, its members and other groups around the UK are challenging the government to reduce and end immigration detention.

We look forward to hearing from you.

The Detention Forum team